Lazy Day Face and OPI Mermaid's Tears

Hello, dear readers,

Today has been a rather lazy day in the sense that I haven't been able to go out and about. I've mostly been inside doing homework or on the phone. Yesterday was much more fun, as I had two of my friends come to visit me at college. I plan to hula hoop this evening, so that should make me feel better about being so static today. Fingers crossed.

For no particular reason, and despite barely leaving the room, I felt the need to slap on some makeup and attempt to look more awake. After that was done, I thought, Why not take some photos of questionable quality on my MacBook and post them on my blog? So that's what I'm doing. I shall also share a couple of photos of my current nail polish, OPI Mermaid Tears.

An aside: I didn't buy Mermaid Tears when it came out as part of the Pirates of the Caribbean collection, because I was being noble and refraining from purchasing nail polish. However, that meant that by the time I got around to looking for it, it was discontinued. A journey to a nail polish/beauty supply store was to no avail, and all the bottles I found online were ridiculously expensive. Somehow, my mom managed to find one for a reasonable price and sent it to me at college. [Thanks, Mom!] I'm a little bit in love with it, and now I know not to pass up a limited edition nail polish if I'm obsessing over it. 

I tried to adjust the lighting and contrast of some of the photos, but they're honestly still pretty washed out and poor quality.  No color changes or any other sort of editing has been done besides that. Without further ado, here is my face of the day:

Products used:

1. Cover Girl Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15 in 805 Fair/Light
2. Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer in Ivory                                                                              (under my eyes and down the bridge of my nose)
3. Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent
4. Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 300 Rose Blush

As you can see, this isn't a flawless face. This is what I use when I want to get my makeup done quickly and efficiently, making myself look much more awake while letting some imperfections peek through. I always alternate the lipsticks, often layering more than one to create the perfect color, but Rimmel's Rose Blush is one of my go-tos for a natural, fresh-faced look. I'm almost out of the tinted moisturizer, so I'll need to bring my back-up to college next time I go home. Apparently, this is now being marketed as a BB Cream. Total sales gimmick, in my opinion.

On to the nail polish:

Despite the grainy quality of the photographs, these are pretty accurate depictions of the color. In the second, the nail polish in the bottle itself appears more blue than in real life.

What nail polish shades have you been loving lately? Are you transitioning to darker fall shades, or do you still play around with all sorts of colors?

I hope you've had a lovely weekend and have more great things in store for you during the coming week!

xEsther

Mini Review: CG Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15

Hello dear readers,

I've had the CG Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15 for a few weeks now, so I think it's about time I give you my opinion on it. I gave my very first impressions of it here, and I have to say I'm really liking it.

The color I have it in, as you may be able to tell from the picture, is Fair to Light, number 805. Here are the product's claims from the CoverGirl website:

Designed with AquaCurrent Science, this lightweight moisturizer with SPF 15 has a sheer tint of color to help even out skin tone and hydrate skin. Its sunscreen provides UVA/UVB protection from everyday sun exposure, while the Gel Complex formula glides on for a barely-there coverage that's fresh and smooth.

I find that the only "downside," which I honestly don't consider a downside, is that it is not hydrating enough for me. As a moisturizer, it isn't stellar, but it's not bad at all either. If you have dry to dry/combination skin especially, I would use a regular moisturizer first and let it sink in a little before applying the tinted moisturizer, as you would with a foundation.

If you've read my blog before, you'll know that I am extremely fair, and the amount of color and the shade of this product are absolutely perfect for me. You can see my pictures here and here, and if you're just a bit less pale than I am, but not too much darker, I'd most certainly go for the Light to Medium shade. I do believe I'm actually wearing the moisturizer in those pictures, so you can see that I still look quite fair. However, although the lighting is terrible in this picture, you can get an idea of what I look like without the tinted moisturizer and see that it actually does bring a hint of color to my face.

There are four available shades: 805 Fair to Light, 810 Light to Medium, 815 Medium to Dark, and 820 Deep. I can't speak to the pigmentation in the darker shades, but I do think it's nice that they actually offer deeper shades, as some drugstore companies can lack in shade ranges from time to time.

It definitely does even out my skin tone, and helps minimize the look of pores, but if you're looking for full or even medium coverage for discolorations, you should go for a foundation.

The SPF 15 is partly composed of the mineral sunscreen zinc oxide, which is a great physical block against UV rays. My regular moisturizer has mineral sunscreen as well, so this is an added layer of protection.

This product lasts a pretty long time. I couldn't really give you an hour amount, because I haven't the time to examine how it looks throughout the day as I'm in class much of the time. I tend to set it with a powder because I do get midday oiliness, and that sort of helps keep the oiliness at bay a bit longer.

If you have really oily skin and don't want any sort of glow, then this might not be the product for you, but I love the slight glow, hint of color and sheer coverage, and smoothing and evening effects it has.

I have no idea what AquaCurrent technology is, but I find it amusing when companies come up with cutesy names to describe what are probably basic ingredients.

You can read another review of it on Beautypedia, which gives a more concise summary of what I just said, but is a professional product review website so I give it a lot of credit for my choice of purchase. It also gives an ingredients list, which I find quite useful.

I hope this was helpful for those of you looking for sheerer coverage, especially as we head into spring and approach the summer months.

Warm weather is on its way!

xEsther

Shopping!

Hello everyone,

If you read my post on Beautypedia, concealer, and tinted moisturizers, you will know that I was looking at a few specific products to help cover up imperfections and give a more flawless finish to my face without a cakey look. I wanted something effective but still light enough so that I didn't feel like I was wearing a heavy sheet over my face.

I decided on the CG Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer in the end, about $6 at my local Target, also pictured in the earlier post, in the color Fair to Light. I have to say I'm very satisfied with it. I use it over my regular moisturizer, mentioned here and here. It gives me extra sun protection with SPF 15 in a mineral form, and I find that it deposits just enough sheer coverage to even out the redness in my skin and correct the tone enough to allow for slightly less concealer over discolorations. 

Which brings me onto my next subject: concealer. I didn't end up getting either of the concealers mentioned  here because I didn't get a chance to go to Wal-Mart to pick up Hardy Candy's Glamoflauge, and my Target didn't stock the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector. I settled on the e.l.f. Tone Correcting Concealer in Light Beige, the lightest color available at my Target. I haven't checked to see if there are other colors online, but this seemed more suitable than either of the undereye concealers I currently use, and it was not a powder, a consistency I find makes my skin appear flaky and dull.

 Image from http://www.maltasupermarket.com/health-beauty.html?dir=desc&order=position&p=4

I have not tried this yet, nor read any reviews [shocker, I know!]. It was $1 so I figured I couldn't go wrong trying it out, whether or not it actually works well. 

While at Target I also needed a base coat/top coat, as I am running out due to painting my nails once or twice a week. I prefer getting the double duty nail polishes because I  really don't find it crucial to buy a separate base and top coat. I'm not picky and so I snatched up the Wet 'n Wild Wild Shine Clear Nail Protector.

Image from http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=wet+n+wild+wild+shine+clear+nail+protector&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=3205744626813247825&sa=X&ei=TGmCTY6ONdSWtwfvteHKBA&ved=0CDwQ8gIwAg#

I'm assuming it's meant to be worn as a top coat, but I have no qualms using it as a base coat as well. It was also just $1.

My best friend was searching for a tinted moisturizer, but was tentative about the Cover Girl product I like so much. She has light skin as well, but quite noticeably darker than mine [as are most people]. She couldn't decide between the Fair to Light and Light to Medium so she ended up with a different brand altogether. She chose the e.l.f. Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20, and I believe she got it in the shade Nude. This product was $3 at Target.

Image from http://www.eyeslipsface.com/studio/face/tinted_moisturizer/tinted_moisturizer_spf_20

I'll have to find out what she thinks of it once she tries it, and, of course I'll let you know!

Happy makeup wearing!

xEsther